Fellow Engineering students, do you know exactly what you want to do with your degree?

I always knew I wanted to do aerospace. My dad said do ME (so I could be more versatile), but in the end, it did not matter. Aside from coursework, I am basically an aerospace student at this point.

To answer your question, no, not really. I don't know where exactly I am going. I came into college with a plan, executed it flawlessly, and now I am here. I am pleased with where I am, but now I have to decide between grad school, industry, or working for the government, etc. I am pretty anxious about graduation because of this.

I had an industry internship (like an office 9-5). I did not like it. It was so damn boring. Though it was tolerable for a summer, I cannot do that for 40+ years. I also worked in a lab and I really enjoyed that, but between my mediocre GPA and having only 1 summer of research, I am not a competitive grad school candidate. I have a really cool internship this fall, so we'll see how that goes. It is for nasa, but I hear working for NASA is slow, and to be honest, in the realm of manned spaceflight, I am very unsure about NASA's future. We'll see.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like had I not studied engineering. I don't regret doing engineering, but if you are passionate about science, and scientific exploration for the sake of science, then engineering is not the path to take. Yes there are so many different jobs out there, but most of them (at least with just a bachelor's) lead to the office 9-5 in front of a computer.

I really hope for a job I will enjoy; something I will be passionate about, but I know I will have to compromise and learn to like the office. I cannot afford to be picky.

Anyway, know that your degree isn't going to limit you. All the greats in the world got there because they were great, not because of their college degree.

/r/EngineeringStudents Thread